Not quite ready to be finished, I headed out to Yosemite National Park to give myself an early present in the form of a hike to the top of Half Dome — something that I’ve always wanted to do. And what cross-country road trip would be complete without a stop in Yosemite!?

6:25 hours to the top
4:50 hours back down
12:53 hours total travel time with stops
33,738 steps taken
4,803 foot elevation gain
16.09 total miles door-to-door
4 liters of water
2 blisters
1 happy camper!

Almost exactly 2 years to the day this trip has come to an official close. 35 States visited and ~19,000 miles driven. As a fitting end to my journey, the Space Shuttle Endeavour took it’s final voyage to it’s new home in Los Angeles, passing over the San Francisco bay for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — just like my road trip. Sad it’s over. Now what???

Ever since I first visited Mendicino many many years ago I’ve always thought there was something really magical about the small coastal town. Maybe it was just the fond memories with the family, or collecting rocks on the beach, or maybe it was the toy store on the corner. When I was reviewing the map of California to plan my route I knew I had to make a stop through Mendicino to see if the magic was still there. While approaching the town from the north all sorts of visuals were triggering deja-vu-like flashbacks. It was bizarre how familiar everything looked and how vivid my visual memory of these places were. It was almost like a lucid dream.